Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures Department Handbook

[updated September 2, 2016]

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Table of Contents I Department History & Overview 2 II. Office & Administrative Resources A. Infrastructure 3

Department Office Hours 3 Mail and Mailboxes 3 Email lists / Listserves 3 Website 3 Printing, Copying, Scanning, and Faxing 4 User limits & quota changes 4-5 Office Equipment 5 Keys & building access 5 Signs 5 Letterhead 5-6 Room & Space Requests 6 Clerical Support 6 Archiving and Filing 6 BuckeyeBox 6-7 Classroom and Office Supplies 7 Kitchen 7 Cleaning, Trash, and Recycling 7 Major Responsibilities of Department Staff 7-8

B. Procedures 8

Department and Committee Meeting Times 8 Service Assignments 8 Events 8 Space Requests 9 Maintenance and Repairs 9

C. Financial/Fiscal & Human Resources

New Employee Procedures 9 P-Card 10 Travel 10-11 Business cards 10

D. University & Department Policies

Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM) 10 Sexual Harassment 10 Student Conduct 10 Office of Disability Services (ODS) 10 Mental Health & Counseling 10

III. Teaching & Instruction A. Resources 11

Center for Languages, Literatures, & Cultures 11 University Center for the Advancement of Teaching 11 Office of Distance Education and eLearning 11

B. Tools 11

BuckeyeLink 11 Canvas 11

[III Teaching & Instruction, continued] C. Procedures & Policies 11

Class Text Ordering 11-12 Libraries & Reserve Readings 12 Class Scheduling 12-13 Combined sections & cross-listings 13 Course Audit & Enrollment 13 Room Assignments 13 Final Examinations Scheduling 13-14 Student Final Exam Coordination 14 Faculty, Lecturer, and GTA Office Hours 14 Course Syllabi 14-15 Class Cancellation 15 Course Evaluation Procedures and Schedule 15 Grades & Grading 16 Grade Submission Deadlines & Procedures 16 Grade changes & Updates 16-17 Grading & Student Assessment Records 17

IV. Academic Programs & Curriculum A. Curriculum Development & Assessment 18

Assessment 18 Curriculum Maps 18 Pre-requisite enforcement 19 New, Changed, and Deleted Courses 19

B. Undergraduate Programs Foreign Language Testing 19-20 Branch campus teaching & oversight 20 Transfer Credit 20 Study Abroad Credit 20-22

C. Graduate Programs

Overview 22 Administration 22-23 Admission & Calendar 23 Orientation expectations 23 Advising 23-24 Records Retention 24 Funding 24 Grad Associateship Benefits & Leave 24 Graduate student teaching 24 Program requirements 25 Master of Arts (MA) 25-26 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 26-29 Registration 29-30 Registration Procedures 28-29 Enrollment Guidelines 30 Independent Studies 31 Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) 31 Graduation Process & Procedures 31-32

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I. DEPARTMENT HISTORY & OVERVIEW

Coursework in Hebrew and Arabic were first offered at Ohio State through the Department of Romance Languages in 1967 and 1969, respectively, and undergraduate major programs in both languages were first offered in 1973.

An independent Hebrew program formed in 1974, the same year the University first offered an undergraduate Islamic Studies major. The Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures (JaNELL) emerged in 1979, locating the Arabic, Hebrew, and Islamic Studies programs together with new Persian, Turkish, Yiddish, and Modern Greek course offerings.

JaNELL added undergraduate minor programs for Arabic and Turkish in 1987, an MA program in 1988, as well as minors in Persian and Hebrew in 1990 and 1991, before being renamed the Department of Near Eastern, Judaic, and Hellenic Languages and Literatures (NJH) in 1992.

With the relocations of the Modern Greek and Yiddish programs into the Departments of Classics and German in 1996, the department was again renamed to become the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) in 2000. NELC extended its language offerings to include Hindi and Urdu in 2006 and, in 2007, admitted its first PhD program cohort. In 2008, the Department added Uzbek to its language course offerings, and in 2010 created an undergraduate minor program in South Asia Studies.

For the 2016/17 academic year, the Department has 14 full-time core faculty and 17 combined graduate students in its MA and PhD programs; it has 48 undergraduate majors and 75 undergraduate minors across its 3 undergraduate majors (Arabic, Hebrew, and Islamic Studies) and its 5 undergraduate minors (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, South Asia Studies, and Turkish); NELC also offers courses both in English and in other modern and ancient languages for its own students, as part of the University’s General Education (GE) curriculum, and for graduate students across the University.

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II. OFFICE & ADMINISTRATIVE RESOURCES A. Infrastructure

Department Office Hours In lieu of full-time professional office staffing, the Department relies on a team of undergraduate student employees to keep Hagerty 300 open between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm on all University business days while classes are in session. In addition, faculty and graduate students have access both to Hagerty Hall and room 300 at all times, through employee/student identification cards and personal keypad codes, respectively.

Mail and Mailboxes All faculty and graduate students can receive mail addressed to them by name at their office number [e.g., 3xx Hagerty Hall], Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures, 1775 College Rd, Columbus, OH 43210. Incoming mail is delivered daily to a centralized Hagerty Hall mailroom and is collected and distributed to personal mailboxes in Hagerty Hall 300 by Departmental undergraduate staff.

Mailing supplies, including campus mail envelopes as well as envelopes and self-adhesive mailing labels pre-printed with Departmental billing codes for use in sending items with metered postage, are available for faculty and graduate students in Hagerty 300 [in rack to the right of mailboxes].

Outgoing mail can be taken directly to the appropriate mail slots (campus mail, metered mail, and mail with postage) in Hagerty 100A for faster service, or can be left in the outgoing mailbox at the main desk in Hagerty 300.

Email Lists / Listserves NELC maintains several email distribution lists, the subscribers to which are as indicated:

nelc-faculty [tenure-track & lecturers] nelcvotingfaculty [tenure-track] nelc-gradstudents [MA and PhD students] nelc-staff [departmental, fiscal/HR, & advising] FriendsOfNELC [interested parties, incl. affiliated faculty] nelcundergrads [all majors and minors] arabicstudents [majors and minors] hebrewstudents [majors and minors] islamicstudiesstudents [majors] persianstudents [minors] southasiastudiesstudents [minors] turkishstudents [minors]

Each list (with few exceptions for relevant committee chairs and advisors) has its messages archived and is has all of messages moderated, requiring individual approval before distribution. Anyone can send message to any of the above list names followed by “@lists.service.ohio-state.edu” to submit them for moderator approval.

Website The Departmental website – nelc.osu.edu – contains individual personal profiles of faculty and graduate students. Requests for updates to website content (including replacement text) should be sent to the Academic Program Coordinator.

Printing, Copying, Scanning & Faxing A combination printer, copier, scanner, and fax machine (Xerox WorkCentre 7545) is available for the use of faculty and graduate students, each of whom have personal user codes comprised of the final four digits of their employee ID (as displayed on

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the OSU ID card). - the Department does not have or provide in-house technical or other support for printing

equipment. All problems with the copier/printer, including error messages, difficulty connecting printers to computers, questions about settings, and any other concerns should be addressed to ASCTech at asctech@osu.edu or (614) 688-4447;

- equipment is accessible for printing as a network printer from all office computers. Mac users must request connection assistance from ASCTech. PC users can connect their own official OSU-owned computer when connected to a hardwire Ethernet port. Search for \\webprint through the start menu search box, select “HH300-Xerox7545” from the search results with a right-click, and select “install”. Users may need to log off of their computer if the “install” option is not available;

- all faculty and graduate student email addresses are pre-saved in the scanner’s “address book”, to expedite sending documents to users’ personal email accounts, under the “public” tab;

- the incoming fax number is (614) 292-1262; - every graduate student, lecturer, and full-time faculty member is assigned a personal

coper/printer account with pre-set paper usage limits determined by their role (see “user limits” below);

- color copies and prints may under certain circumstances be available; contact the Academic Program Coordinator for more information.

More detailed instructions for copying, scanning, printing, and faxing are posted above the machine in Hagerty 300. Contact asctech@osu.edu for assistance installing the printer on office computers; contact the Departmental Academic Program Coordinator for assistance with the scanner address book.

Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to maintain user codes, scanner address book, and usage allowances, as well as to monitor and generate usage reports with online hardware interface at http://140.254.110.92/. Academic Program Coordinator is also responsible to manage supplies inventory through individual user account ComDoc website (store.comdoc.com).

User limits & quota changes All full-time faculty, lecturers, and graduate students serving as independent instructors are allowed 1,000 pages per semester, while all other graduate students have 500 pages per semester. Instructors teaching 3 or more NELC-department classes of at least 16 students each, and/or teaching classes with sufficient enrollment to warrant the assignment of a Teaching Assistant, are allowed an additional 1,000 pages for the semester. Paper usage allowances are split evenly between black-and-white printing and black-and-white copying; any reallocations between printing (i.e., producing hardcopy from computer files) and copying (i.e., duplicating existing pieces of paper) can be made by emailed request to the Academic Program Coordinator. Any user may purchase additional paper allowance in increments of 1,000 pages for $20 each (to the Academic Program Coordinator by cash, check payable to “OSU”, or research funds as applicable). Balances of additional page purchases remaining at the end of the semester are added to the user’s new allotment at the start of the following semester, while unused balances of users who have not purchased additional allowances are reset at the end of each term. Office Equipment Telephones with voicemail are installed in all faculty offices, and shared telephones are installed in all lecturer and graduate student offices. Problems and requests for

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assistance with telephones should be directed to the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) at (614) 688-4357 or 8help@osu.edu.

All core faculty are provided with computers for their personal use, and computers are available in all shared lecturer and graduate student offices as well as in the main office lounge/waiting area, 300D. The Department Fiscal/Human Resources associate serves as the departmental equipment manager and is responsible for assigning and coordinating office computers and other equipment. Problems and requests for assistance with computers, including printer connections, software, hardware, and connection/log-in problems, should be directed to the College of Arts & Sciences Technology Services office (“ASCTech”) at asctech@osu.edu or (614) 688-4447 (or in-person at 433 Mendenhall Lab.)

Keys & building access Metal keys are issued to all persons with private and two-person offices. “Ownership” (by departments) of individual rooms is officially tracked by the College, though lock cores and the key approval authority attributed to them by Lock & Key Services are separate; NELC faculty are assigned to 226 and 361, which have locks assigned to (and have keys that need to be approved by) the French & Italian and Slavic departments, respectively.

Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to manage inventory, process paper slips and deliver to / pick up from lock shop, handle police/fire assignments and returns, manage database, manage keypad codes, oversee service problems with keypads, and monitor and grant building access with online processing (for the Lenel system) through the “Card Access Request System” at lockandkey.osu.edu.

Keys contact (for training, et al.,) is Jim Gephart (.24). Keys are requested with hardcopy slips; department submits both and is returned new key with carbon copy. Key assignments and access details summarized in Excel file on shared drive.

300, 335, 368, and 378 have keypad access; users enter 4-digit code followed by pound sign. Keypad usage and update instructions are at bestaccess.com/techpubs/T80941.pdf, or found by searching “keypad EZ Quick Reference Card.” Maximum unique codes programmable for each door is 50. Individual user codes are person’s last 4 digits of their employee ID; currently, all graduate students and faculty have access to 300, all graduate students and lecturers have access to both 368 and 378. 335 is only accessible to instructors of classes officially scheduled in the room. All keypad access should be updated at least once per semester.

Signs Office nameplate inserts ordered from fod.osu.edu/signage with eRequests for payment, as coordinated by fiscal/HR staff as part of the hiring process.

Letterhead Electronic letterhead for the Department is available through the Department’s website at nelc.osu.edu/templates. A limited supply of hardcopy pre-printed letterhead is also available for general use in the mailing supplies cabinet adjacent to the mailboxes in Hagerty 300.

Room & Space Requests Any use of any classroom space outside of regularly-scheduled classes for meeting, seminars, information sessions and other events, must be reserved officially through the “Event Management” portion of SIS/BuckeyeLink. All room reservations (other than 306 and 335, the use of which are approved directly by NELC) must be approved by Classroom Scheduling.

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Clerical Support The Department does not have a secretary or other clerical support resources beyond undergraduate student workers, who are available for projects as coordinated by the Academic Program Coordinator; all requests for assistance should be addressed to the latter.

Archiving & Filing The Department maintains paper files in Hagerty 300C for its graduate program (all current and previous students, plus historical committee documents), undergraduate programs (committee documents, language testing materials, and recent student forms), teaching and curricular materials (syllabi, recent exams, and teaching evaluations), and faculty materials (search documents and personnel files other than dossiers for current faculty, which are stored in the Chair’s office.)

All faculty files, including draft Promotion & Tenure (P&T) dossiers and supplementary materials, are stored in locked file cabinets in the Chair’s office under the supervision of fiscal/HR staff. All requests for accessing and making additions to faculty personnel files should be addressed to the Fiscal/HR Associate or Manager.

Syllabi from approximately Autumn 2012 forward are maintained primarily as digital files, and both student teaching evaluations records and syllabi prior to Autumn 2012 are maintained in both paper and electronic formats. The syllabus archive is available in BuckeyeBox, as coordinated by the Academic Program Coordinator, as a reference to all graduate students and faculty; all instructors and their supervisors have access to all past teaching evaluations. All instructors are expected to upload current syllabi to the relevant BuckeyeBox folder by the end of the first week of each semester.

University Archives specifies that student work used in calculating grades be retained for 2 academic terms beyond the one for which the grades are assigned (i.e., one full year). The Department has historically provided instructors the option of allowing the department to catalog final papers and/or exams.

The Department defers (unless with explicit exception as in the case of syllabi, faculty teaching evaluations, and graduate student files) to the University Archives Records Retention Schedule.

BuckeyeBox [internet-based file sharing] OSU maintains an internet-based file sharing system known as BuckeyeBox (through contract with the private provider box.com), through which both recognized administrative units and individuals can manage collaboration, group access, and files. Every employee is automatically given access to a personal account at buckeyebox.osu.edu and, additionally, the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures has a centrally-coordinated account. Problems with accessing BuckeyeBox should be addressed to 8help@osu.edu or (614) 247-4357.

Classroom & Office Supplies Basic classroom and office supplies (pens, highlighters, dry- erase markers and erasers, chalk, paperclips, notepads, etc.) are available for use by all faculty and graduate students in the gray metal cabinet in Hagerty 300B.

Kitchen A microwave, coffee machine, electric kettle, refrigerator, and limited cabinet space is available for all NELC faculty and graduate students in the kitchen space connecting the main NELC office (Hagerty 300) with the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures (DEALL) in Hagerty 398. DEALL typically prefers not to share any space or appliances and expects cooperation in confining NELC to its pre-assigned spaces. The upkeep and cleaning of the kitchen resources are the responsibility of the faculty and students using it; the building’s custodial staff do

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not maintain these spaces.

Cleaning, Trash, and Recycling The University does not provide cleaning service for faculty offices beyond an annual carpet cleaning. The Department currently provides a vacuum (in 300B) for use as needed by faculty and graduate students. Undergraduate workers are not expected, under any circumstances, to provide cleaning or any other service to faculty or graduate student office spaces.

All offices are furnished with both recycling and trash receptacles. Hagerty custodial staff do not enter unoccupied faculty offices; trash and recycling receptacles will only be emptied when placed in the hallways.

Specific cleaning requests can be placed online at Facilities Operations and Development (fod.osu.edu) via the automated Request Service feature.

Major Responsibilities of Departmental Support Staff

Fiscal & Human Resources Manager Kelly Snow, 398 Hagerty Hall, snow.208@osu.edu

Fiscal & Human Resources Associate David Liu, 300E Hagerty Hall, liu.246@osu.edu

-Office assignments, signs, etc. -Promotion & Tenure, dossier, and file management -Office equipment (computers, phones, printers, etc.) inventory, maintenance, updates, surplussing, etc. -Travel planning and reimbursement -job searches -grad student appointments, pay, subsidies, benefits -lecturer contracts -PCard (procurement card) management & sign-out

Undergraduate Advisor Tommy Beyl, 355 Hagerty Hall, beyl.1@osu.edu

-undergraduate student files and records -transfer and study abroad credit processing

Academic Program Coordinator Justin Acome, 300F Hagerty Hall, acome.1@osu.edu

Serves as departmental secretary, providing clerical and organizational support to Chair, committee Chairs, faculty and graduate students. Contributes labor for all recurring and ad hoc tasks not otherwise explicitly assigned to shared fiscal/HR and/or undergraduate advising staff. Primary tasks include: - Filing and records maintenance - office supplies ordering - mail distribution - office equipment and kitchen maintenance and cleaning - website, including news & event features, personal pages, and course listings - data entry for course scheduling, curriculum, assessment, and graduate admissions - coordination of building access and office keys

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- eReports data access - coordinating undergraduate student worker schedules and workload

B. Procedures

Department and Committee Meeting Times Tuesdays from 3:30-5:30 p.m. are reserved for Departmental and committee meetings. No classes, office hours, or other commitments should be scheduled during these hours.

Service Assignments Faculty service assignments are arranged by the Department Chair for each academic year (and elected positions are filled at the first faculty meeting) effective with the start of the Autumn term and remaining in effect through the end of the summer. Positions and responsibilities are detailed in the Department’s Pattern of Administration (POA), available from the Office of Academic Affairs.

The Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to communicate annual faculty service appointments to other campus offices, for updating listserves and granting relevant access, including Graduate Studies Committee Chair to Graduate School and Graduate Admissions, Graduate and Undergraduate Studies Committee Chairs to College Curriculum Office, Area Officers to University Undergraduate Honors office, etc.

Events The Center for Languages, Literatures, & Cultures (“CLLC”) created a position for an Events & Communications Coordinator in Summer 2014 with the expectation of providing event coordination labor to the departments, centers, programs, and other units in Hagerty Hall. Faculty and graduate students interested to obtain assistance in producing events should inquire with the CLLC at cllc@osu.edu or (614)292-4361 about their ability to provide assistance as early in the planning process as possible. More information at cllc.osu.edu.

In lieu of CLLC assistance, Fiscal/HR staff coordinate job search-related events, performing such tasks as distributing template schedules and request participants’ availabilities; making restaurant reservations, completing eRequests for PCard and managing access for meal hosts to PCard, arranging spaces (either with Departmental scheduling or SIS events management), planning meals and requesting catering estimates (universitycatering.osu.edu/contact.asp or 688-3562); creating eRequests to pay for catering; and creating and distributing promotional materials (fliers and website features) in hardcopy, by email, and on nelc.osu.edu.

Space Requests Faculty and graduate students seeking on-campus rooms for meetings, study and review sessions, events, or any other official purpose can communicate their requests (with as many details as possible about desired room capacity, expected attendance, and event purpose) to the Academic Program Coordinator as early in advance of the event as is feasible. The Academic Program Coordinator must then formalize space requests with the Registrar’s Office of Classroom Scheduling, which may take up to one week to approve requests and assign reservations.

The Department schedules two of its own rooms – Hagerty 306 and 335 (the conference room and seminar room, respectively) - in the same manner; any requests for use of either space should be directed to the Academic Program Coordinator, who can then coordinate service requests with Facilities Operations and Development (FOD).

Maintenance & Repairs Requests for emergency repairs in Hagerty Hall (leaking ceilings,

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flooding restrooms, etc.) should be communicated directly to the building coordinators Pattie Strope and Karen Sobul in Hagerty100 [at strope.1@osu.edu and sobul.1@osu.edu, and at (614) 292-4361] and also (and at non-business hours) to OSU Facilities Operations & Development at (614) 292-4357.

Requests for non-emergency service to non-Departmental spaces in Hagerty Hall (hallways, bathrooms, classrooms) should be communicated to building co-coordinators Pattie Strope and Karen Sobul [at strope.1@osu.edu and sobul.1@osu.edu, and at (614) 292-4361].

Requests for non-emergency service for Departmental spaces (problems with furniture, doors, windows, etc. in offices and meeting rooms) should be communicated to the Academic Program Coordinator.

C. Financial/Fiscal & Human Resources

New Employee Procedures The Fiscal/HR manager is responsible to oversee the generation, delivery, and processing of an offer letter and contract, as appropriate, after which the new employee will meet with College HR to finalize any necessary hiring and payroll forms. Only after new employees are formally hired can the Academic Program Coordinator assign door and copier codes, office keys, and access to BuckeyeBox. The fiscal/HR staff is responsible to coordinate office assignment and to order office nameplates, business cards, office computers (as applicable) and, in coordination with ASCTech, a campus computer user account. New employees themselves, after meeting with College HR and finalizing their hiring, are responsible to activate their OSU electronic username (at my.osu.edu) for email, the Faculty Center, employee self-service, etc., activating Carmen access, obtaining a parking permit (as necessary), and obtaining an employee ID.

P-Card The Department holds a Purchasing Card (“P-Card”) that can be used as a credit card for pre-approved expenses in connection with official departmental events, programs, and activities. Faculty and graduate students requiring access should first work with fiscal/HR staff to secure appropriate pre-approval as far in advance as possible, and sign out the card itself from the fiscal/HR associate.

Travel All official travel must be pre-approved in order to be eligible for funding and/or reimbursement. Affected faculty and graduate students should work with fiscal/HR staff as far in advance to secure appropriate pre-approval.

Business Cards The Department offers its faculty an approved template for personal business cards; faculty should work with the Fiscal/HR staff for ordering.

D. University & Department Policies & Resource Offices

Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM) The OSU Committee on Academic Misconduct supports academic units on campus by investigating and adjudicating all instances of suspected plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct. All cases of suspected impropriety should be referred to COAM and instructors in such situations should work directly with COAM – the Academic Program Coordinator should be notified whenever cases are submitted, but the instructors themselves are otherwise responsible for providing any relevant materials to the committee. Further information and instructions are available at oaa.osu.edu/coam.html.

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Sexual Harassment and Romantic and/or Sexual Relationships The Department does not maintain any policy on sexual harassment or relationships that differs from the University’s policy, as articulated in Sexual Harassment Policy 1.15, which can be found at hr.osu.edu/elr/sexualharassment.aspx.

In addition to the strict prohibition of any perceived abuse of any power differential, the University prohibits any romantic and/or sexual relationships between teachers and students, advisers and advisees, and supervisors and supervisees. Any concerns or reports of harassment should be reported directly (and preferably, via the reporting form available at the link above) to sexualharassment@osu.edu.

Student Conduct The OSU Office of Student Conduct governs all concerns about student conduct on campus, both in and outside the classroom, providing services in situations involving disruptive students, concerns about sexual harassment and violence by students, and troubled students. More information is available at studentconduct.osu.edu.

Office of Disability Services (ODS) The Office of Disability Services (ODS) supports students (and the campus community generally) with disabilities in helping to ensure appropriate access and accommodations, including offering dedicated examination spaces for students for whom regular classroom settings have been identified as inadequate for test- taking. Students in such situations will have assigned advisors at ODS and will approach instructors directly with appropriate documentation.

Mental Health & Counseling Counseling and Consultation Services (CCS) offers emergency and ongoing mental health support services to all enrolled students. CCS is located on the fourth floor of the Younkin Success Center at 1640 Neil Ave; more information is available at ccs.osu.edu and (614) 292-5766. The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers similar services for faculty and staff; more information at hr.osu.edu/benefits/hb_eap.aspx and (800) 678-6265.

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III. TEACHING & INSTRUCTION A. Resources

Center for Languages, Literatures, & Cultures (CLLC) The Center for Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, located in Hagerty 100, provides curricular development and a variety of other forms of pedagogical support for language faculty. More information about the availability of CLLC resources is available from cllc.osu.edu and cllc@osu.edu.

University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT) The University Center for the Advancement of Teaching offers instructors at all levels in their careers – from new GTAs to long-term tenured faculty – access to workshops on a range of matters of pedagogy and curriculum, assistance with focus groups, longer-format reading groups and syllabus- development groups (“Course Design Institutes”, or CDIs), assistance with job market materials, and one-on-one consultations and classroom assessments (including classroom observations and “Small-Group Instructional Diagnoses”, or SGIDs). All UCAT services are targeted at instructors seeking (voluntarily) to develop and improve their own teaching. More information about UCAT’s offerings is available at ucat.osu.edu.

Office of Distance Education & eLearning (ODEE) The Office of Distance Education and eLearning may provide assistance to faculty wishing to introduce digital and electronic technology into their teaching activities. More information is available at odee.osu.edu.

B. Tools

BuckeyeLink BuckeyeLink – buckeyelink.osu.edu – is the umbrella term for Ohio State’s core academic and administrative internet-accessible “portal.” Students use buckeyelink (the “Student Center”) to organize their financial accounts, financial aid, course enrollments and academic records, and most other aspects of their official interactions with Ohio State. With the “Faculty Center”, instructors (including students assigned as GTAs) use buckeyelink (in conjunction with Carmen) to manage their classes (including monitoring rosters and recording and submitting grades), and advise students, as applicable.

Canvas Canvas – carmen.osu.edu – is OSU’s internet-based classroom management program, allowing instructors to post course materials for students’ access, to facilitate out- of-classroom collaboration and discussion, to collect assignments, to manage class and group rosters, to distribute announcements and information to students, and to manage and disseminate grades (**although all grades must still be posted through the grade roster in the “Faculty Center” section of BuckeyeLink**).

C. Procedures & Policies

Class Text Ordering All instructors who would like to provide their students with options for purchasing course texts in bookstores local to campus are expected to coordinate their own book order and course reader requests directly with those businesses. The OSU main campus area has several options for securing course texts SBX

(Student Book Exchange) – books and course packets 1806 N. High St, (614) 291-9528, sbx-osu.com

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Barnes & Noble / Long’s – books 1598 N. High St, (614) 247-2000, ohiostate.bncollege.com

Foreign Language Publications – books and course packets 198 Hagerty Hall, (614) 292-3838, flpubs.osu.edu

UniPrint – course packets, sold through Barnes & Noble/Longs 2500 Kenny Rd, (614-292-3450, uniprint.osu.edu

Libraries & Reserve Readings Instructors are encouraged to communicate a list of their courses’ readings to the OSU libraries, via their designated Areas Studies librarian, to help maximize the means by which students will have access to required course materials.

More information about making course readings available electronically and/or in hardcopy to students through the libraries, via Course Reserves, is available at library.osu.edu/find/borrowing-and-lending/course-reserves/.

The Middle East Studies Librarian is Patrick Visel (visel.1); the Hebraica & Jewish Studies librarian is Joseph Galron-Goldschlaeger (galron.1).

Class Scheduling Faculty are expected to coordinate course offerings and teaching loads first among their subject/language/research areas, then with the relevant Director of Undergraduate or Graduate Studies (as appropriate), and finally in conjunction with the Chair on a Department-wide basis.

The College of Arts & Sciences prescribes minimum enrollments of 6 students in graduate courses and 16 in undergraduate courses for a teaching assignment to be counted toward a faculty member’s teaching labor obligation. The Department Chair may officially reduce a faculty member’s teaching load in instances where they determine that teaching exceptionally small classes is warranted by curricular need.

All courses are expected (with limited exceptions for constraints of religious practice) to meet within predefined scheduling parameters, with specific options for day and time meeting patterns tied to the number of credit hours in which a course is denominated, with the aim of utilizing all classroom spaces for at least 70% of all business hours. Further, classes are expected to be placed in rooms for which their enrollment will constitute at least 70% of the official capacity, and departments are expected to distribute their course offerings as broadly throughout the day and week as possible [with no more than 11% of course offerings meeting at any one time] in the interest of maximizing the use of available campus classroom space.

Primary course scheduling and computer entry windows are mid-November/early January for Summer, mid-November/mid-January for Autumn, and mid-June/mid-August for Spring. Classroom Scheduling currently only allows Departments to chose (“pre-assign”) rooms for 20% of total course offerings; the remainder are allocated by the Registrar after scheduling windows close. Scheduling classes early does not guarantee room availability, and classes are frequently left without rooms after computer “mass placement”, particularly classes 4x/week (i.e., most lower-level language classes) and between ~10:00am and ~2:00pm Tuesday through Thursday (i.e., when most faculty want to teach). Classes offered outside Registrar’s prescribed class schedule options are less likely to get rooms and may, by being harder for students to fit into otherwise-standardized

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schedules, draw lower enrollments.

Combined sections & cross-listings Multiple classes with the same or substantially overlapping subject matter – whether undergraduate and graduate components of the same course number, or cognates in different departments - can be linked on the Combined Sections Table in BuckeyeLink. Linking courses through the Combined Sections Table allows a single instructor to be assigned to all components, allows all class components to be to be scheduled in the same space at the same time, and allows a single enrollment capacity to be applied in aggregate to all course components. Separate rosters are still maintained for each class component, however, and grades must still be submitted through separate grade rosters.

Course Audit & Enrollment Any person attending any course offered through the department, for any more than 2 or 3 sessions as a visitor, guest, or observer, must formally be enrolled and listed on the official class roster as either a graded or auditing student. Non- degree-seeking students can arrange formal official course enrollment through Program 60 (for community members 60 or over), Extended Education (for enrollment in undergraduate courses), or Graduate Non-Degree status (for general enrollment in graduate courses). More information is available at odee.osu.edu/program-60, odee.osu.edu/extended-education, or gpadmissions.osu.edu/programs/program.aspx?prog=0103, respectively. Under no circumstances should any NELC course instructor allow any unenrolled person to attend their class without the explicit approval of the department chair.

Room Assignments Departments have an opportunity to request specific rooms for 20% of their course offerings, but the majority of rooms are assigned (and all can be reallocated) by the Registrar’s Office of Classroom Scheduling.

The Registrar publishes details on all classroom spaces at classroom.osu.edu and (with more updated detail and 360-degree views): registrar.osu.edu/scheduling/SchedulingContent/

All instructors must conduct their classes in their officially assigned spaces at their official times. Instructors should address all questions or concerns about classrooms and space assignments to the Academic Program Coordinator for coordination with the relevant University offices.

Final Examinations Scheduling The Registrar’s Office of Classroom Scheduling arranges a final examination schedule based on the regular semester class-meeting schedule, in a way that ensures that any student without timing conflicts during the regular term will also avoid conflicting examination times. All exams are scheduled for 1 hour, 45 minutes, and are held in the classroom space used for the class meetings throughout the semester.

The Board of Trustees / Faculty rules (trustees.osu.edu/rules/university-rules/chapter-3335-8- instruction.html) dictate both that all classes have a final exam and that those exams are administered during the official Registrar-scheduled time period. Specifically:

Course examinations. At the close of each course as defined in rule 3335-8-01 of the Administrative Code, an examination will be given on the student's capabilities relative to the stated course objectives, the method of examining to be determined by the instructor or supervisor of the course. Examinations in laboratory and seminar courses shall be optional with the instructor concerned. (Board approval date: 7/9/2004)

Schedules for final examinations.

(A) Examinations for classes taught on the regional campuses and for classes whose enrollment is

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exclusively of students registered in the colleges of dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine will be scheduled by the offices of the regional campuses and of the colleges respectively. All examination schedules prepared outside the office of the university registrar shall, before publication, be cleared with the office of the university registrar which shall have the power to resolve all conflicts.

(B) All other final examinations shall be centrally scheduled by the office of the university registrar.

The official examination schedules shall be strictly adhered to by all instructors. Any deviation must first be approved by the appropriate university official (department chair, regional campus dean and director, or college dean) in consultation with the office of the university registrar, which shall have the power to resolve all conflicts. Final grades for graduating students must be submitted electronically to the office of the university registrar by the deadlines established by that office.

Student Final Exam Coordination The Registrar’s procedures for coordinating final examination schedules are designed to ensure that no student enrolled in courses that do not involve time conflicts should have a corresponding final exam schedule with time conflicts. Further, neither the University nor the College has any policy establishing a maximum number of final examinations a student should be asked to complete in a single day, though instructors are encouraged to be flexible with students with 4 exams scheduled on the same day and for students in rare situations with final exam time conflicts.

Faculty, Lecturer, and GTA Office Hours All instructors are expected to offer at least 90 minutes of weekly open office hours for each course they are teaching. Office hours should be offered on a consistent weekly schedule and published in course syllabi.

Course Syllabi The University Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) and the College of Arts & Sciences specify what elements must comprise all course syllabi, and the Department provides a syllabus template for use by all instructors (nelc.osu.edu/DepartmentalResources). The Department maintains an electronic archive of most syllabi used in its courses for approximately the last 10 years, available on BuckeyeBox.

Instructors are expected to develop their syllabi in keeping with the College’s and Department’s requirements for syllabi, with the purpose and description of the course itself, and with the role the course plays in the major and minor programs of which it is a part.

A complete articulation of the University’s course number classification system appears in the Board of Trustees / Faculty Rules 3335-8-05 (trustees.osu.edu/rules/university- rules/chapter-3335-8-instruction.html):

University classification and course numbering system.

(A) Courses numbered 1000-1099 are undergraduate non-credit courses for orientation, remedial, or other non-college-level experiences. These courses are in addition to a program’s graduation requirements.

(B) Courses numbered 1100-1999 are introductory level courses providing undergraduate credit, but shall not be counted on a major or field of specialization in any department. Courses at this level are beginning courses, required or elective courses that may be prerequisite to other courses.

(C) Courses numbered 2000-2999 are intermediate level courses providing undergraduate credit and may be counted for a major or field of specialization.

(D) Courses numbered 3000-3999 are upper-level courses providing undergraduate credit that may be counted toward a major or field of specialization.

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(E) Courses numbered 4000-4999 are advanced level undergraduate courses providing undergraduate credit that may be counted on a major or field of specialization. Graduate students may enroll in and receive graduate credit for 4000-level courses outside their own graduate program.

(F) Courses numbered 5000-5999 are dual-level courses regularly offered for both graduate credit and undergraduate credit providing advanced level courses for undergraduate credit that may be counted toward a major or field of specialization or are foundational coursework and research for graduate and professional credit.

(G) Courses numbered 6000-6999 are foundational level graduate and professional courses and research providing graduate or professional credit

(H) Courses numbered 7000-7999 are intermediate level graduate and professional degree courses and research providing graduate or professional credit.

(I) Courses numbered 8000-8999 are advanced level graduate and professional degree courses and research providing graduate or professional credit.

(J) Courses for which graduate credit is anticipated must be taught by a member of the faculty approved by the graduate committee of the unit offering the course. Seven thousand and above level courses must be taught by members of the graduate faculty.

All instructors are expected to post their syllabi to the Departmental syllabus archive, in BuckeyeBox, by the end of the first week of classes.

Class Cancellation Instructors who are or expect to be unavailable to teach any class meeting should coordinate and communicate with the Departmental Academic Program Coordinator and, if relevant (as with GTAs and lecturers) their course supervisor. Substitutes should always be arranged, if possible, but only with supervisors’ approval.

All instructors should also communicate any deviations from course schedules articulated in syllabi to their students by email as well as, if possible, in-person and/or in updated syllabi. Signs should always be posted in classrooms to notify students of any such developments.

Course Evaluation Procedures and Schedule OSU collects voluntary online Student Evaluations of Instruction (“SEIs”) of all students in all classes each semester. The Department, in addition to this, collects its own ‘long-form’ evaluations in hardcopy for all classes.

By the Monday of the second-to-last full week of classes, all instructors should receive prepared packets containing an appropriate number of student evaluation forms together with cover forms indicating instructors’ names, subject, course, class numbers, and official enrollments, pre-addressed for return to Hagerty 300.

Instructors must allow students at least 5 minutes to complete the forms, typically at the end of one of their final classes after soliciting a volunteer to collect and return the forms to Hagerty 300, with completed cover forms.

Instructors may not under any circumstances remain present in the classroom while students complete the evaluations.

Electronic copies of collected evaluations will be posted to BuckeyeBox and instructors will be given access after grades are submitted. Faculty are responsible to coordinate with the fiscal/human resources staff to ensure that full sets of copies of evaluations are included in all P&T review processes. All paper copies are archived in the Department; no originals are recorded in

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faculty dossiers.

Grades and Grading The standard University grading scheme is articulated in Board of Trustees section 3335-8-21. Notably, OSU does not allow grades of A+ or D-, and employs an E in place of a more typical F. Summary follows:

A & A-: performance judged to be of high quality based upon a comparison with other students in the course, and/or with students who have taken the course previously, and/or the instructor's personal expectations relative to the stated objectives of the course, based on the instructor's experience and expertise.

B+, B, & B-: performance judged to be of above-average quality…

C+, C, & C-: performance judged to be of average quality…

D+ & D: performance judged to be of below average but acceptable quality…

E: instructor judged the student not to have satisfied the stated objectives of the course.

I: Incomplete; student has completed a major portion of the work in the course in a satisfactory manner, but for reasons judged by the instructor to be legitimate, a portion of the course requirements remains to be completed.

EN: E for non-attendance; when student was properly registered for the course, but failed to complete the course because of non-attendance. When assigning this mark, an instructor must also provide some indication (e.g. day or week of the academic term) of when the student stopped attending the course.

Grade Submission Deadlines & Procedures Grade submission deadlines for graduating students are typically either 24 hours after the student’s last work is due or 12:00pm the Thursday before commencement, whichever is earlier. Grades for non-graduating students are typically due 5:00pm the Monday after commencement.

Grades are submitted through the grade roster on Faculty Center, where they can be entered manually or imported from Carmen. Once grades are entered for all students, the instructor must first “Save” and then also “Post” the grades to make their submission official. An assistance document on grade submission is available at registrar.osu.edu/sishelp/Grading/grading_enter_grades.pdf.

Instructors should of course submit their grades sufficiently far enough in advance of the relevant deadlines to allow themselves to address any technical or network problems that may arise.

Grade Changes & Updates Instructors must submit a completed paper grade change form (available for download at registrar.osu.edu and selecting ‘forms’ under the ‘faculty’ tab or at registrar.osu.edu/secure/forms/grade_assignment_change_form.pdf) to the Academic Program Coordinator for departmental approval and forwarding to the Registrar.

Grading and Student Assessment Records The University requires that all materials on which students’ grades are based be retained for two full academic terms beyond the completion of a course. The Department will collect and retain all exams and major papers for any faculty who prefer not to retain these records themselves.

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IV. ACADEMIC PROGRAMS & CURRICULUM

A. Curriculum Development & Assessment

Assessment “Assessment” is used variously at Ohio State in reference to grading and student evaluation (student assessment); pedagogy and faculty development (classroom assessment); General Education (GE) course goal and student learning monitoring (GE assessment) and department-level academic degree program planning and review. Generally, otherwise-unmodified use of the term “assessment” refers to the latter.

[**The University has introduced and maintained an unfortunate confusion on this point, by labeling this review of academic majors, minors, and graduate offerings somewhat colloquially as “program” assessment, while in fact in its own bureaucratic language “programs” are College-level categories, such as Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Public Health, etc.; academic majors, minors, and graduate offerings are in fact technically academic “plans”.**]

The Department submits to the University, via the Division of Arts & Humanities, two documents every year (typically in June):

1. The first annual assessment document – an Assessment Plan - is comprised of the

faculty’s collective articulation both of a. the characteristics of the idealized graduate of each academic program, and b. the means by which the department plans to gauge those programs’ success in

producing those outcomes.

2. The second annual assessment document – an Assessment Report – is an overview of the department’s activities both in monitoring and in advancing those programs’ success.

The ongoing processes of self-critique and monitoring that yield these two documents are together, loosely, called “assessment”. The office of Academic Affairs coordinates the University-wide assessment agenda and has, through the June 2014 assessment cycle, expected assessment documents primarily of undergraduate major programs; increased attention to undergraduate minor programs, graduate programs, and other academic offerings are expected through the University’s 2017 institutional reaccreditation.

The Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to manage assessment, convene faculty meetings, oversee maintenance of data and self-study reports, draft submissions, and manage communication with other offices. Ideally, previous years’ plans should be outlines for subsequent years’ reports, due yearly in June. [More information available through College of Arts and Sciences Assistant Dean for Curriculum]

Curriculum Maps Departments are expected to maintain for each academic program a curriculum map, which is a single document signifying the relevance of each course offering in their Catalog to one or more of the program’s goals identified in the relevant, current assessment plan. All proposals for changes or additions to, or deletions from, a unit’s course offerings must be accompanied by an updated curriculum map.

Pre-requisite enforcement The Registrar’s Office of Classroom Scheduling, which manages Course Catalog and Schedule of Classes portions of Buckeyelink, automatically arranges for the prerequisites of all NELC courses to be applied automatically when students enroll. Questions

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about problems with students enrolling (provided the Department has not mistakenly scheduled courses to require either Departmental or Instructor consent) can be directed to the Scheduling Coordinator assigned to the semester in question.

New / Changed / Deleted Courses All proposals for changes to the Department’s course offerings – additions as well as changes to GE category eligibility, title and course description language changes, prerequisite and grading system updates, etc., should be proposed with the following materials, each as a separate document:

1. A revised syllabus that meets all requirements as specified by the College of Arts & Sciences (see appendix for syllabus template, and asccas.osu.edu/curriculum/asc- syllabus-elements for more information).

2. An updated curriculum map 3. GE rationale, 1 for each proposed GE category 4. GE assessment plan, 1 for each proposed GE category

Proposals for new courses and course changes (in the form detailed above), and memoranda articulating the justification for proposed course deletions, should be approved by the relevant undergraduate or graduate studies committee. Departmentally-approved changes are then forwarded, with accompanying documentation, to the Academic Program Coordinator for submission to the University’s curricular approval process. Generally, proposals take a minimum of one semester but up to a full calendar year from the point of being proposed by the Department to when the new or revised course will be available for scheduling.

Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to submit curricular proposals, counsel faculty on requirements, and review and repair existing course descriptions. A Departmental worksheet and syllabus template, plus the College curriculum handbook, are all available.

B. Undergraduate Programs

Foreign Language Testing, Credit by Examination (“EM credit”), and Validation of GE Language Requirements The Department, in service to graduate and undergraduate students from across the University, administers language exams evaluating proficiency in each language for which it has an approved curriculum: Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and Uzbek.

The Department uses these examinations to determine students’ eligibility for Validation of their satisfaction of some undergraduates’ GE foreign language requirement, for EM Credit (Credit by examination) for competence in languages (other than English) of which students are not native speakers, and for some graduate students’ departmental foreign language requirements.

Testing for each language in the Department is overseen either by a Language Program Coordinator or Language Program Director responsible for developing testing materials, coordinating the administration and proctoring of the testing, evaluating students’ proficiency levels and course placements, and differentiating the appropriateness of language Validation (for native speakers) or EM Credit (for non-native speakers). Language Program Coordinators then forward original testing materials and relevant EM Credit or Validation forms to the Academic Program Coordinator for archiving and further processing. The Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to schedule, proctor, process the curricular forms, and maintain records for all language exams. All students wanting testing in Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu are tested with paper exams by main office by

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appointment, and typically take approximately one hour but have no time limit. Students complete exams in main department lounge, and exams are scanned to program directors and results are communicated back to main office.

Pending the training of language program coordinators and the development of electronic teting instruments, the main department office is then responsible to communicate results to students, and main office then submits validation or EM paperwork, (EM for non-native speakers without transfer credits for same level or higher credit hours; validation for native speakers; nativity as determined by dominant language in place of high school graduation), to students’ home College advisors (as listed on advising reports). If students’ majors are in Arts & Sciences, EM credit forms (available as fillable PDF available on shared drive, or from Testing Center at registrar.osu.edu -> forms) sent electronically to Lindsey Kurre (.1) and Validation forms (fillable form available on shared drive) sent electronically to Joyce Zipperlen (.1).

Branch campus teaching & oversight Several Arabic courses are offered periodically in Marion, while several Hebrew classes are taught in both Marion and Newark. The Columbus campus department exercises no direct oversight of the teaching of any NELC subjects on any regional campuses. Undergraduate education deans and their offices schedule courses and hire lecturers. Currently, Leslie Beyer-Hermsen (.1) and Bishun Pandey (.1) oversee teaching in Marion and Melissa Jungers (.2) and Jamie White (.1291) oversee and manage teaching in Newark.

Undergraduate Transfer Credit Undergraduate students wishing to use credit hours earned at other institutions – whether as students matriculated at other colleges or universities and transferring to OSU, or as OSU students studying abroad on non-approved, “Independent Study Abroad” programs –first have their coursework transcripts reviewed by the Registrar. The Registrar determines an approximation of the appropriate number of OSU credit hours to award for the coursework and also identifies (preliminarily) the appropriate OSU departmental subject category: e.g., coursework is differentiated between Islamic Studies and Arabic, History and Classics, Political Science and International Studies, etc.

Credit hours of this sort can be counted toward students’ minimum credit hour totals for their degrees but cannot be used to meet any specific requirements of any major or minor. Once students’ coursework from other institutions is evaluated and formally articulated by the Registrar, however, students can then have the coursework evaluated for specific OSU course counterparts that may be applicable to OSU major or minor program requirements. Each OSU department designates at least one faculty member for each subject area to be responsible, in collaboration with their Undergraduate Student Advisor, for evaluating study abroad and transfer students’ coursework for correspondence to OSU coursework and curricula. The transfer credit evaluation process is overseen and coordinated by the Undergraduate student advisor. Undergraduate Study Abroad Credit The Department offers eligible Ohio State students the opportunity to select from a number of Arabic and Hebrew-focused study abroad programs. Programs allow students a variety of combinations of opportunities to develop language skills while also enrolling in courses that may in some cases satisfy major, minor, and GE program requirements.

Students earn graded Ohio State credit for all coursework they complete on approved study abroad programs. In many cases, students can work with their academic advisors prior to leaving campus to determine how specific courses from their program will apply to their major or minor at Ohio State. Because Ohio State language programs are taught through specific course sequences,

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however, it is not possible to pre-approve language coursework from another institution as the equivalent of any specific Ohio State coursework. Students must complete the relevant language proficiency exam after completing their study abroad program to enable the Department to evaluate the language coursework from their program for equivalency to Ohio State language courses and appropriate placement within their language curriculum.

Students attending approved programs remain enrolled at Ohio State during the term of their program, can use Ohio State institutional financial aid, are eligible to apply for additional institutional grants and scholarships, and earn graded Ohio State credit. The following programs are Ohio State-approved and offered academic credit from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures:

India CIEE Arts & Sciences in India [Hyderabad] Minnesota Studies in International Development - India [Bangalore] Israel Ben Gurion University Hebrew University of Jerusalem Tel Aviv University University of Haifa [summer/May] Living Jerusalem Jordan CIEE Arabic Language and Culture & Advanced Arabic Language [Amman] [summer] CIEE Summer Arabic Language in Jordan Morocco ALIF Arabic Language and Culture [Fez] [summer/May] Global May Morocco [various locations] United Kingdom & Jordan FIE: London-Amman Peace, Conflict and Arabic Language

Because the US State Department has issued travel warnings for Israel, Jordan, and Morocco, all participants in programs in these countries must submit petitions, at the time of their acceptance, acknowledging they have read the travel warning and recognize the risk involved. All programs administered through the Office of International Affairs that include travel to countries with a risk designation have received prior approval by the International Travel Policy Committee. Ohio State and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures recognize that there are a number of opportunities, beyond the official Ohio State-approved programs, for students to travel and study in North Africa and the Middle East while earning credit from other institutions. Students planning to pursue a non-sponsored experience are still required to adhere to the university protocols for independent study abroad (details at oia.osu.edu/getting-started/ways-to-go-abroad/independent-study-abroad.html)

In some cases, Ohio State students who have sought other opportunities to study abroad have successfully presented transcripts from these non-approved programs to the Ohio State Registrar and received general credit on their advising reports. The Department, however, discourages students from

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enrolling in non-approved programs because the academic quality of these programs is often difficult to verify. In addition, approved programs have been reviewed for their health and safety standards. Students should assume that credit hours and coursework earned on non-approved programs will not be counted toward their minor or major program requirements.

Visit the Office of International Affairs website - oia.osu.edu/study-abroad.html - and email oia-studyabroad@osu.edu for more information.

C. Graduate Programs

Overview The Department offers two graduate degrees – a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy, both in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures – the requirements of which are articulated at nelc.osu.edu/CoursesandPrograms/Graduate.

All graduate students and graduate student advisors are expected to maintain familiarity with the policies and procedures dictated in the Graduate School Handbook (updated yearly at gradsch.osu.edu/graduate-school-handbook1.html). The Graduate School handbook is the definitive articulation of policies governing graduate programs that are not otherwise delegated to departments. The Graduate School Handbook is the authoritative source in any situations of apparent conflict, disagreement, or confusion between it and any departmental documents or publications, or between it and the advice of any departmental faculty or staff.

Administration The Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to oversee Graduate program coordination and advocate on behalf of all NELC Graduate Students with all University offices, including:

- Monitoring current students’ academic status, funding, teaching, et al, answer questions, negotiating with Graduate School, and coordinating with fellowship funders (MESC, grad school, etc.).

-Maintaining student summary spreadsheet, or similar, currently saved as “graduate student summary” in NELC/administration/curriculum/graduate program/student services.

-Being knowledgeable about Graduate School Handbook (http://gradsch.osu.edu/graduate-school-handbook1.html), maintaining paper and electronic records (of exam reading lists, exams, prospecti, etc. supporting production and periodic update of Departmental handbook, cataloging periodic status reports from students and faculty under direction of DGS

- Learning SIS Admission and EDWARD interfaces; managing faculty access to online resources; monitoring and counseling application submissions and reporting to DGS, faculty committee, and Chair; generating and distributing admission decision letters; and preparing and submitting fellowship materials.

Admission Academic Program Coordinator is responsible to assist the Director of Graduate Studies by collecting and responding to questions from prospective applicants, helping applicants complete submissions as liaison with Graduate Admissions, preparing fellowship materials for Graduate School, preparing admission materials for review by Graduate Studies Committee, and coordinating graduate orientation. Specific Graduate Admissions tasks include:

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1. monitor applicants during Autumn term, communicate need to submit missing items

2. manage faculty access to application materials (request official Edward access, generate reports and

summaries, distribute local copies as appropriate in consultation with DGS) early in Autumn.

3. update computer system (SIS and Edward, currently) to verify completions (updating checklist items to ‘complete’), request GPA verifications, and post decisions

4. draft and distribute departmental decision letters

5. prepare fellowship nomination and conditional admission petition documentation and submit to

Graduate School

6. collaborate with Chair and fiscal/HR team to plan budget and funding.

Calendar The Department admits students to its graduate programs for enrollment in the Autumn semester of each academic year. Applications are due late in the Autumn term preceding the proposed term of enrollment, and admission decisions are typically communicated in late January through early March. Applications for US Citizens and Permanent Residents are conventionally due the second Monday of December; applications for non-US Citizens or Permanent Residents are conventionally due November 30 (or the nearest preceding business day).

Orientation Expectations New graduate students have several opportunities for orientations at Ohio State. All new NELC students will be expected to meet with the Director of Graduate Studies and Department Chair for a Departmental orientation the first week of classes. All new students will be invited to attend the Graduate School’s orientation, typically held the week before classes begin, and all new GTAs are expected by the Department to attend the University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT) orientation, during the week before classes begin, in whatever year they begin serving as a GTA (i.e., for fellows, generally their second year).

Graduate Program Advising The current Director of Graduate Studies serves as the official advisor for incoming graduate students for at least the duration of their first semester in the program. Students will have the opportunity - as appropriate, and beginning with their second semester in the program - to request that another member of the Department’s faculty agree to serve as their advisor. The identification of appropriate advisors should be made in deliberation with the Director of Graduate Studies, where appropriate, and must be communicated to the Academic Program Coordinator in order to be made official with the Registrar and Graduate School. PhD students are also expected to identify associated, or secondary advisors, who help assure breadth in the student’s research, in the spirit of the department’s faculty more generally, and also to secure student’s access to productive feedback while primary advisors may be on leave or otherwise less available. A student’s primary advisor and secondary advisor together comprise a student’s Advisory Committee.

Records Retention The Department is expected to retain all documentation of and materials from graduate students’ progression through the graduate program, including copies of master’s and PhD Candidacy exams, dissertation prospectuses, certifications of research language competency, and other important items, for at least one year beyond the date the student becomes inactive (either

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through graduating or withdrawing). Copies of all materials, either electronic or in hardcopy, as appropriate, should be forwarded to the Academic Program Coordinator as soon as they are available.

Funding Most NELC graduate students funded by the Department are appointed with semesterly assignment letters and contracts as 50% GTAs, appointments through which they serve an average of 20 hours/week over the course of the semester (i.e., 50% of a “full-time” 40 hours/week appointment) as a member of the Department’s teaching faculty, either as an assistant to a member of the core faculty in mid- or large-sized classes or as an instructor in a smaller language class or undergraduate seminar.

Students funded either as Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs) or Graduate Research Associates (GRAs) are appointed by the Department under the terms outlined in section IX of the Graduate School Handbook.

Benefits Benefits afforded to Graduate Associates are fully detailed in section 9.5 of the Graduate School Handbook. Graduate Associates are provided with subsidies to fund significant portions of their tuition and fees, including the premium for the Student Health Insurance plan in which students are enrolled if they have not qualified for a waiver by verifying alternative coverage. Graduate Associates are eligible for coverage under the University’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance as well, but should first pursue treatment within their regular medical insurance before seeking – in collaboration with Departmental Human Resources staff – Workers’ Compensation reimbursement for the treatment. Graduate Associates are also eligible to participate in Ohio State’s employee retirement plans and may purchase staff-level parking permits.

Leave Graduate Associates are eligible for short-term (typically 3 to 10 business days) personal or bereavement Leave, and Graduate Associates with 2 full consecutive academic terms of service are eligible for up to 6 weeks Leave for adoption, childbirth, or illness. In more extreme circumstances, graduate students may opt to take an academic Leave of Absence, which must be formally approved by the Graduate School.

Graduate Student teaching Graduate students assigned through their GTAships to serve as primary instructors for undergraduate classes will not be expected to teach classes with enrollments larger than 30. Graduate students serving as primary instructors will be assigned a faculty supervisor, with whom they are expected to coordinate the syllabus as well as the progress of their teaching periodically throughout the semester.

Program Requirements - Master of Arts (MA) A. Coursework [total 30 credit hours]

1. Core Seminar NELC 5101 Introduction to the Field of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (1 unit)

2. Elective seminar: One of six courses (3 units each)

CS 7360 Theorizing Culture CS 7370 Theorizing Religion HIST 7900 Colloquium in the Philosophy of History, Historiography, & the Historian’s

Skills NELC/CLAS 5401 Methodologies for the Study of Ancient Religions

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NELC 5568 / CS 5668 Studies in Orality and Literacy NELC/CS 7301 Theorizing Literature

3. elective NELC Coursework minimum 15 credit hours of Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, or NELC coursework, including:

all coursework must be at 5000-level or higher, and of which a minimum 6 credit hours must be at the 6000-level or higher and an additional minimum 3 credit hours must be at the 8000-level

4. additional coursework minimum 9 credit hours of additional graduate coursework, from NELC or elsewhere, with agreement of advisor, including:

[if writing a thesis] NELC 6999 NELC MA Thesis (3 credit hours) during their final term, or students may enroll in NELC 6998 NELC MA Exams (3 credit hours) during their final term.

B. Research Language. MA students must demonstrate reading competence in at least one language of modern secondary scholarship besides English (usually French or German) by:

- receiving a grade of B or higher in either FRENCH 6571 French Reading for Research I or GERMAN 6101 Basic German for Graduate Students. [note: neither of these courses count toward the minimum 30 graduate credit hours coursework requirement.], or

- Passing the proficiency exam offered by the relevant department, or - Petitioning the Graduate Studies Committee to consider other evidence of competence, such as an undergraduate major or minor in the language, or

- passing a 6000-level or higher-level course taught in the language. C. Thesis. Completion of a Master’s Thesis is NOT a requirement of the NELC MA program; the decision to produce an MA thesis should be made collaboratively by each student and their committee.

- If a student elects to produce a thesis, the Graduate School will consider them to be pursuing the “Thesis Option”, which the student will specify when formally applying to graduate at the beginning of their final term in the program.

- The student and committee may elect to conduct a formal thesis defense meeting (of approximately 2 hours, during business hours), or they may instead opt to critique and revise the draft less formally.

- Whether a formal defense meeting is held or not, the student’s committee must formally signify their approval of the text on the Report on Final Document form to the Graduate School.

- The thesis draft must be approved by the student’s committee before the student takes the exam.

-Thesis Option students must also submit their document – after the submission of the Report on Final Document – for recording and publication by the University.

D. Exams. All MA students - whether Thesis Option or Non-Thesis Option – must complete an MA exam.

- Exams are administered by the student’s advising committee and with content and in a form agreed between the student and the committee.

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- Exams are held during a student’s final term in the program (typically by the end of the third-to-last week of the semester).

- The exam requirement may be satisfied in any of five ways; (students and committees are expected to determine which is most appropriate for their program and future plans):

Thesis Option: thesis and oral exams thesis, oral defense, and oral exams thesis, oral defense, written exams, and oral exams

Non-Thesis Option

written exams written exams and oral exams

- Students must record their satisfaction of the exam requirement by coordinating the submission, with approval from the advising committee, of the Report on Final Examination form to the Graduate School.

[Section 6 of the Graduate School Handbook contains the full articulation of policies governing requirements beyond coursework for Master’s degrees at Ohio State.]

Program Requirements – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) A. Coursework All students are expected to have completed a relevant Masters-level degree prior to admission to the NELC PhD program. Upon enrollment, the Masters degree will be transferred as a bloc of 30 OSU graduate-level credit hours to count toward the minimum 80 graduate level credit hours required for an OSU PhD. Students are expected to earn the remaining 50 graduate level credit hours according to the following categories and plan:

1. Core seminar - NELC 5101 Introduction to the Field of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (1 unit) (students who have already taken this course while pursuing BAs or MAs are not required to repeat it, nor may they repeat it for credit.) 2. Elective seminars. Two of these six courses (3 units each) [students who have already taken two of these courses while pursuing MAs are not required to take more of them, but may do so for credit.] - CS 7360 Theorizing Culture - CS 7370 Theorizing Religion - HIST 7900 Colloquium in the Philosophy of History, Historiography, & the Historian’s Skills - NELC/CLAS 5401 Methodologies for the Study of Ancient Religions - NELC 5568 / CS 5668 Studies in Orality and Literacy - NELC/CS 7301 Theorizing Literature 3. Departmental coursework. At least eighteen (18) units of credit at the 5000-level or higher must come from courses bearing the prefixes managed by the NELC department: NELC, ARABIC, HEBREW, PERSIAN, and TURKISH. 4. Advanced-level coursework. At least fifteen (15) credit hours at the 7000- or 8000-level. Courses in this category may also be used to satisfy other requirements.

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5. Assessment & credit hour basis. No more than twelve (12) of the fifty units in total may be taken as non-graded (S/U or PA/NP).

Beyond these restrictions, any course at the 5000-level or higher, if approved by the Graduate Studies Committee, may count towards the degree. All courses are chosen in consultation with the student's Advisory Committee. B. Modern Scholarship Languages Students must demonstrate reading competence in at least two languages of modern secondary scholarship, usually French and German, by one of the following means:

- receiving a grade of B or higher in FRENCH 6571 French Reading for Research I and/or GERMAN 6101 Basic German for Graduate Students. [note: neither of these courses count toward the minimum 30 graduate credit hours coursework requirement.], or - passing the proficiency exam offered by the relevant department, or - petitioning the Graduate Studies Committee to consider other evidence of competence, such as an undergraduate major or minor in the language, or - passing a 6000-level or higher-level course taught in the language.

Any proposed alternates to German or French must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. Competence in English is assumed as it is the medium of instruction at OSU and does not satisfy the requirement. C. Declared Specializations All graduate students in NELC receive PhDs in “Near Eastern Languages and Cultures,” not in Hebrew, Arabic, Islamic Studies, or another area. Nevertheless, students should designate two fields of study in conventional terms, in consultation with their academic Advisory Committee of two faculty members, as their fields of specialty. A few examples of possible fields are “Medieval Judaism,” “the Ancient Near East,” “Modern Middle Eastern Societies,” and “Pre-modern Iran,” with innumerable further possibilities. These specializations will guide students in their Candidacy exam topics and self-branding for the job market. Each student’s Advisory Committee consults with the NELC chair and affected faculty to ensure that advisees have sufficient graduate courses to train them for Candidacy exams in their two fields. The declaration of these specializations enables the faculty to plan appropriate offerings effectively. These declared specializations may change by agreement of advisors and advisees. D. Near Eastern research languages All students must pursue advanced training in the research languages required for their respective fields of specialization – i.e., the languages taught and researched by NELC faculty. Normally this entails at least one course per semester in the main research language for the duration of coursework and regular or sustained coursework in a second language. This is to prepare them for the Near Eastern research language exams and ultimately for conducting advanced research using these languages. It is the student’s responsibility to prepare for these examinations by taking advantage of every opportunity for training and

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advancement in the language. It is the responsibility of the student’s advisors to oversee the student’s preparation, by ensuring the offering of relevant courses, including independent study sessions where needed, to the student. E. Exams

1. Translation Exams. PhD students must demonstrate ability in two different Near Eastern research languages by examination prior to scheduling the PhD Candidacy exams. These translation exams should be taken as soon as the student is ready, without delay. Students do not take the Candidacy exams and proceed to dissertation work without first having passed the translation examinations, though both the translation and Candidacy exams may be scheduled for the same semester. There are two ways to demonstrate research competence in a Near Eastern language in lieu of a translation exam. Students may waive either their primary or secondary language or both translation exams, but may waive only one by each of the following means (i.e., may only claim native proficiency in one language, and/or can only cite coursework in lieu of one exam).

a. Course work in lieu of one examination. The examination for one of these two, conceived as a secondary language in the student’s research, may be replaced by coursework: at least nine units of credit in courses in the language – including undergraduate, introductory-level coursework - with a grade of B+ or higher in each course. Typically this entails three semesters of work in the language. (Where possible, students are encouraged to pursue more than nine units of credit, proceeding to the highest level of ability attainable in the second Near Eastern research language, although this is not a requirement.) b. Waiver of one exam for native speaker of Near Eastern research language. The requirement of a translation exam is waived for one Near Eastern research language for students who speak one of their Near Eastern research languages natively (from childhood) and hold a degree from a university in which regular instruction is conducted in that language. The waiver does not hold when the research language is a pre-modern variety of the student’s native language (e.g., classical Arabic studied by a speaker of modern Arabic). Ability in different dialects or pre-modern varieties of a given language cannot be credited as more than one language for the purposes of these exams (e.g., modern and Ottoman Turkish do not count as two languages; classical Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic do not count as two languages).

Translation examinations are arranged by the student’s advisory committee (primary and associate advisor) but the examiners may include other faculty with the relevant language expertise. Translation examinations allow three hours for the translation of three passages of texts representing typical prose, poetry, or both, in one language. PhD students taking two such examinations do so on different days. At the discretion of the examiners, translation examinations may also include prompts for specific commentary or a short essay on the translated materials. Standards for the examinations in research languages necessarily vary according to the nature of the material extant in the different languages. The goal is to demonstrate the competence to conduct research on texts in the language. The student’s advisors decide whether the student may choose to employ a lexicon during

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the examination. Examinations written with the help of a lexicon will be evaluated more strictly. Grades include Pass or Fail. Students who fail an exam may re-take the examination in that language once at a later date after suitable preparation, with different texts set by the examiners. Students who fail the translation exam twice cannot retake the examination, cannot complete the degree program, and will not register for the next semester. Two faculty members designated by the student’s advisory committee, in consultation with the DGS, evaluate each translation examination. In case of a disagreement in results, a third faculty member is recruited by the DGS to review the examination and to decide. When only one faculty member is available having expertise in the language of the examination, a second faculty member nevertheless reviews the examination and its results for fairness. Extradepartmental graduate faculty may participate in the administration and evaluation of these examinations. When no faculty member has expertise in a given Near Eastern language, examinations for that language are not available and will not be administered. 2. Candidacy Exams. The full and authoritative articulation of policies governing Candidacy and Candidacy exams for all students appears in the Graduate School Handbook sections 7.4 through 7.8. The policies and guidelines articulated at nelc.osu.edu are intended as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, the policies stated in the Graduate School Hancbook; in the event of any apparent contradiction or conflict between the two, the Graduate School Handbook should be understood as the definitive resource.

a. Scheduling. Ideally, students are preparing for Candidacy exams throughout their graduate work, and students are encouraged to plan the date of their Candidacy exams as soon as they pass their translation exams. The Candidacy examinations must be taken by the end of the student’s third year, unless special provisions are made by the Graduate Studies Committee in consultation with the department chair. Students must complete all of the individual requirements listed in categories I. through V.1 prior to the commencement of their Candidacy exams. This includes all coursework and “modern” scholarship language requirements, the receipt of formal Graduate Studies Committee approval for declared specilaizations, Near Eastern research language requirements, and translation exams. By that time, students should have accumulated at least 68 graduate credit hours; this will leave 12 units of dissertation work over four semesters to count towards the PhD. b. Content & Format. Student will take three written examinations in three different fields, followed by a two- hour oral examination within one month of the completion of the written portion of the examination. To assess the three exams a Candidacy Exam Committee will be selected consisting of the student’s advisor and at least three other faculty members with expertise in the areas of the examinations. At least three of the four must be members of the NELC graduate faculty; an outside committee member can be included with the approval of the

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NELC Graduate Studies Committee. c. Completion & Candidacy Status. If the student’s candidacy exams are not found to be satisfactory, the student can make another attempt with the permission of the Graduate School. The Candidacy Examination Committee must remain unchanged. A repeated attempt requires another oral examination to be scheduled. Students officially advance to the status of Doctoral Candidate at the start of the semester following their successful completion of Candidacy exams, and status as a Doctoral Candidate expires after 5 calendar years for any student not having completed and successfully defended their dissertation.

V. Dissertation

Once advancing to Candidacy status, there are four steps to completing the doctoral degree: Appointment of Dissertation Committee, Writing and submission of dissertation prospectus, researching and writing the dissertation, and the final oral examination.

1. dissertation committee. The student must select members of a Dissertation Committee, consisting of at least 3 members of the Graduate Faculty (possibly but not necessarily drawn from the membership of Candidacy Exam Committee) and chaired by a dissertation advisor. The Dissertation Committee must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. 2. prospectus. The student then writes a dissertation prospectus and submits it to the Committee. The prospectus outlines the proposed research project of the student's dissertation, indicates the significance of the project, and explains the methods to be used. The dissertation prospectus is normally fifteen to thirty pages, including extensive bibliography. The dissertation prospectus cannot be a statement of findings before the research is carried out and written. It raises questions and issues and outlines the methods by which the answers will be sought. Normally the dissertation prospectus ranges in length from five to twenty pages, including an extensive representative bibliography. The prospectus should be submitted soon after the Candidacy Exams, certainly within one semester. If the student has passed the Candidacy Exams at the end of the second year of PhD work, then the immediately subsequent summer is usually sufficient to write the prospectus. 3. research & writing. The Dissertation Committee reviews the prospectus and suggests changes before it is approved. Once the prospectus is approved by the committee, the student works continuously on researching and writing the dissertation. The dissertation is essentially a scholarly monograph, demonstrating the student's ability to conduct original advanced research in the field of expertise. It is normal and recommended that the student finish the remainder of the PhD work in two years after passing the Candidacy Exams. No student is allowed to continue more than five years after passing the Candidacy Exams. 4. defense. Once the dissertation is completed and submitted, the student undergoes a

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two-hour Final Oral Examination on the dissertation. The Final Oral Exam Committee consists of the Dissertation Committee with the addition of a Graduate Faculty Representative appointed by the Graduate School.

Registration Procedures All graduate students are expected to enroll full-time and to remain in residency in Columbus (with exceptions for specialized training and research) each non-summer term for the duration of their academic programs.

All students at all stages in all NELC graduate programs are responsible to enroll in appropriate coursework and credit hours each term. Students enroll in and withdraw from classes through the “Student Center” accessible at buckeyelink.osu.edu (guidance and tutorials for using the Student Center are available at the “SIS Student Center” option at it.osu.edu/assist/).

All students are responsible to ensure their own compliance with the enrollment requirements attendant to any funding arrangements they have been offered. Typical minimum credit hour registrations by status and term include [more information in Graduate School Handbook 3.1]:

- 12 for fellowship recipients during Autumn or Spring - 6 for fellowship recipients during Summer - 8 for MA and pre-Candidacy PhD students as 50% GTAs during Autumn or Spring - 4 for MA and pre-Candidacy PhD students serving as 50% GTAs during Summer - 3 for PhD Candidates

Enrollment Guidelines MA students and pre-candidacy PhD students should coordinate their coursework schedules with their advisors, in close consultation with the relevant program requirements. Graduate students may under some circumstances enroll in a special-purpose course numbers (and credit hours) in recognition of the non-classroom labor involved in completing their degrees, as outlined and summarized below.

- MA students preparing for their exams may, with the agreement of their advisor, enroll for one semester in up to 3 credit hours of NELC 6998 under the supervision of their advisor [students may not enroll in both 6998 and 6999, either simultaneously or during different terms, during their MA program];

- MA students preparing a thesis may, alternatively and with the agreement of their advisor, enroll for one semester in up to 3 credit hours of NELC 6999 under the supervision of their advisor [students may not enroll in both 6999 and 6998, either simultaneously or during different terms, during their MA program].

- PhD students preparing for Candidacy exams may enroll, with the agreement of their advisors, for one semester in up to 8 credit hours of NELC 7998.

- PhD students who have advanced to Candidacy and are preparing their dissertation prospectus may enroll (with the agreement of their advisors) in up to 3 credit hours of NELC 7999 for up to two semesters.

- PhD students who have advanced to Candidacy and are performing research may enroll in NELC 8189 (for fieldwork) or NELC 8998 (for general research), for up to 3 credit hours at a time, for up to 4 semesters.

- PhD students writing their dissertations may enroll up to 3 credit hours of NELC 8999 for up to 4 semesters.

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Graduate student enrollment guidelines, by program and status Coursewor

k Exam

s Thesi

s Prospectu

s Researc

h Dissertatio

n

cred

it ho

urs

enro

llmen

t

sem

este

rs

cred

it ho

urs

enro

llmen

t

max

sem

este

rs

cred

it ho

urs

enro

llmen

t

max

sem

este

rs

cred

it ho

urs

enro

llmen

t

max

sem

este

rs

cred

it ho

urs

enro

llmen

t

max

sem

este

rs

cred

it ho

urs

enro

llmen

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max

sem

este

rs

MA

8-12

general

3-4

≥3

6998

1

≥3

6999

1

n/a

PhD

8-12

general

4-6

≥8

7998

1

n/a

≥3

7999

2

≥3

8189 / 8998

4

≥3

8999

4

Independent Studies / 5193 enrollments Enrollment in Individual Studies credit hours are subject to the same tuition, fees, and registration requirements as regular ‘classroom’ credit hours. All Individual Studies credit hours are assessed as S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory; i.e., without letter grades) and students are responsible to verify whether and how any Individual Studies credit hours may count toward the completion of their degree. No member of the faculty is obligated to provide Individual Studies guidance to any student. OSU Faculty Rules 3335-8-24 A(1) specifies approximately 3 total hours/week of formal instruction and independent student work per credit hour; e.g., a 3 credit-hour 2193 or 5193, for a 14-week semester, should involve approximately 126 hours of work. Individual Studies credit hours are typically restricted to those situations where students’ curricular needs and interests cannot reasonably be accommodated by the regular course offerings of University. Faculty and students should meet at least every second week of the semester. Students must submit the 5193 approval form (to the departmental Academic Program Coordinator) by the final day of regularly scheduled classes of the semester preceding the semester of enrollment in Individual Studies credit hours. (Forms for Spring are due at the end of Autumn, for Summer at the end of Spring, and for Autumn at the end of Summer). The Graduate Studies Committee Chair or Department Chair may request revisions or clarifications to the proposal. Upon review and approval, the student will be contacted by the Academic Program Coordinator with instructions for enrollment. Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) program & procedures OSU Graduate students may under certain circumstances enroll either directly or remotely in course offerings available at other Big 10 institutions and the University of Chicago for credit and specialized training toward their OSU degree. More information is available at cic.net or by email to OSU Graduate School secretary Samuel Jordan at jordan.194@osu.edu. Graduation / degree completion Procedure Because of the difficulty of structuring graduate

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research, and variation in the amount of time different students require for completing graduate degrees, the Graduate School requires all students to formally specify their plans to graduate with a submission of the Application to Graduate, which is typically due the 3rd Friday of the term in which a student plans to complete their degree. The Application to Graduate is a signal to the Graduate School to verify the student’s eligibility for the degree, and their status relative to its requirements. Students must be enrolled full-time during the semester in which they complete their graduation requirements and must also meet deadlines and timing requirements for submitting their thesis or dissertation manuscript [typically 2 weeks before the defense], scheduling their exams and defenses [typically 2 weeks before the end of the term], and posting their revised final documents [typically 1 week before the end of the term], while still allowing sufficient additional time for advisement, feedback, and revision, as necessary. Generally, the latest a student should expect to complete their manuscript is the 11th week of the semester, which is roughly the end of March for Spring semester and October for Autumn semester – or earlier, if a student and committee wish to allow additional time for possible revisions after the defense. More information is available at gradsch.osu.edu/graduation1.htm.